St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School

St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School Inspection report

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116366 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 312278 Inspection number 24 June 2008 Inspection date Jo Curd Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Infant Type of school Voluntary aided School category 4 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 87 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Dermot Murphy Chair Mrs Ann Brooks Headteacher 18 January 2005 Date of previous school inspection High Street School address Lyndhurst SO43 7BB 02380 282244 Telephone number 02380 282890 Fax number

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4-7 Age group 24 June 2008 Inspection date 312278 Inspection number .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an Additional Inspector. The inspector evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: the effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels; the extent of pupils' personal and social development, including their attendance and how well they are prepared for life within the religious and cultural diversity of Britain; standards and achievement of all groups of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics, and the level of attainment on entry to, and exit from, the Foundation Stage. Evidence was gathered from the analysis of pupils' standards and progress, scrutiny of samples of their work and observation of pupils in lessons, during breaks and at lunchtime. Discussions were held with staff, governors and pupils. In addition, the responses of 47 parents' questionnaires were analysed and their comments taken into account. Other aspects of the

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Introduction

school's work were not investigated in detail, but the inspector found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as given in its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

Pupils are taught in three age-based classes in this small voluntary aided infant school. Most come from relatively advantaged backgrounds and live near the school. The vast majority have white British heritage and speak English as their first language. A very small number of pupils have moderate learning, communication, emotional or behavioural difficulties. There have been several changes in staff, including two of the three class teachers, over the past two years. A new Foundation Stage teacher has been appointed from September to replace the current temporary teachers.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School, 24 June 2008

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Grade: 2

This is a good school, which makes a valuable contribution to both the church and to the village as a whole. Pupils' personal development and well-being are outstanding. Most of the parents who responded to the questionnaire were extremely positive. One commented, 'We feel privileged to have this school and staff in our community. They have consistently provided top class education, support and enjoyment for our children'. The school has been through considerable change and challenges over the past two years. It is a credit to the whole school community that above average standards and good achievement have been maintained, and that personal development has remained outstanding over this time. There have been several changes of personnel including two of the three class teachers, the chair of governors, site manager, office administrator and lunchtime staff. Leaders and managers have worked extremely well with the community, local authority and other schools

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Grade: 2

to make effective strategic decisions about how to deal with this constructively. Self-evaluation is strong and generally accurate. Senior leaders and managers have a good track record of addressing any areas identified as weaknesses such as improving supervision and support at lunch times and introducing new programmes for reading. Governors are very involved, very supportive and willing to challenge the school. Their initiative and drive has been instrumental in the production of a stunning new prospectus and authorisation for new pathways through the school and churchyard, which will benefit the whole village community. The school has moved forward in many ways since the last inspection. However, because of the relatively new staff, some aspects of leadership and management are less well developed. For example, although the new subject leaders are improving the resources and developing the curriculum,

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Grade: 2

they do not examine lessons or books and thus do not always know the standards and achievement of pupils in their subjects. Leadership and management overall are good. The headteacher is experienced, caring and very effective in her work. She successfully shares her strong and inclusive vision for the school and effectively draws upon and inspires others so that teamwork and community spirit are a hallmark of the school. This presents an excellent role model and assures high expectations for all the pupils. They are keen to come and eager to learn. Despite guidance from the school, several families continue to take holidays in term time. Consequently, the overall attendance rate is adversely affected. Nonetheless, it is in line with the national average. Pupils have an exceedingly good awareness of, and commitment to, health and safety. They learned a lot on their cycling safety day, and are successfully learning

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Grade: 2

to take risks, such as trying out ambitious moves on the fixed play equipment safely. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are outstanding. Behaviour is generally excellent. More challenging behaviour from some pupils, especially at play times, is managed well, particularly since the appointment of a new play leader for lunch times. Pupils have a good knowledge and understanding of Christianity as a world-wide faith and of Judaism. They have a growing understanding of and respect for other cultures and traditions. Their positive attitudes to others provide an excellent starting point for life in a diverse world. Pupils are eager to help around the school. Those in Year 2 take their roles of 'buddy' at play times very seriously and know that they can make a real difference if anyone is lonely or upset. Because of their good achievement and excellent behaviour, attitudes, care of and cooperation with others, they are

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Grade: 2

exceedingly well prepared for later life and learning. Although attainment varies widely within each of the small cohorts, pupils generally start Year 1 with standards that are just above the national average. All groups of pupils make good 4 of 9 Inspection Report: St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School, 24 June 2008 progress throughout the school, especially in Year 2. Standards in mathematics, reading and writing have, overall, been consistently significantly above the national average for the past five years. Due to lower starting points, some pupils with learning, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and changes in staff, standards in 2006 and 2007 dropped slightly. These were most notable in reading where standards were in line with the national average. Very recent teacher assessments of pupils in Year 2 indicate that standards in all these areas are once again well above the national average. Newly introduced structured programmes for teaching letter

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Grade: 2

names and sounds and for helping parents to support reading at home and in school, have contributed to this success. All pupils are making good progress because teaching and learning are effective. Teachers and teaching assistants work well as a team, successfully extending and supporting pupils' learning. Pupils enjoy a wide range of interesting, practical activities. Although work is usually varied to meet different pupils' needs, lesson observations and work in books indicates that this is not always the case and that it is too often the same for different groups of pupils. Marking does not always show pupils how they can improve. Verbal feedback and recorded praise encourages pupils and successfully contributes to their excellent personal development, but is not always effective in helping them to achieve even more. The school has a good track record, a strong staff and a highly effective governing body. Given

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Grade: 2

these factors and its very strong commitment to continuous development, capacity for further improvement is good.

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Grade: 2

Staff work effectively together and with children. Teamwork is strong and children are well cared for and supported. Children start at the school with a wide range of knowledge, skills and experience. Overall, these are broadly in line with those expected for this age, although there is a trend for the use of numbers to be higher and skills in writing to be lower than this. All the children make good progress in the Foundation Stage, particularly in their personal and social skills, because of good teaching and an interesting, varied curriculum. By the end of the Reception year, standards are generally just above those found in most other schools. Children enjoy a wide range of activities. They loved hearing their own recorded voices telling stories, and listening to recordings of the teacher reading stories they had written and all, even the very active boys, were captivated by this. The teacher has recently introduced challenges to

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Grade: 2

improve children's learning or targets to improve their social skills. Children have enjoyed rising to these and are proud when they succeed. Teachers' comments, however, do not always show children how to improve their work or how they could develop their learning further.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Make sure that pupils know how they can improve their work and make more progress.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure work set always matches pupils' needs. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School, 24 June 2008 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School, 24 June 2008

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Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 1 The behaviour of learners 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 of 9 Inspection Report: St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School, 24 June 2008

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 of 9 Inspection Report: St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School, 24 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

08 July 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School,Lyndhurst,SO43 7BB Thank you all for being so friendly and welcoming when I visited our school recently. All the things you told me about your school and learning really helped me with my work. I particularly enjoyed my lunch and would like to say thank you to your new cook and all your new lunchtime staff. I agree with many of you that you have a good school and can see why most of you enjoy it so much. I loved going through your willow 'maze' and recognise how hard you have worked on this with people from the village and the willow specialist. Because you are taught well, you are all learning well and making good progress. The new way that you are learning your letter names and sounds and the way your parents help you at school and at home are helping you to make even more progress. Your personal development, including the way you behave, care

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

for each other and work hard, is excellent. You are all learning a lot about Christianity and other faiths, which will help you as you grow up and meet different people. Perhaps you will meet Jewish people like Ben, who you have heard so much about. There have been many new staff in your school over the past two years. They are all doing a good job but I have asked them to do two things, which will help you make even more progress in your learning. The first is to make sure that you know how to make your work even better and the second is to make sure that work is always suitable for you, not too easy or too hard. Perhaps you could tell your teachers what really helps you in your learning and when you find the work just right. I would like to thank you one again for all your help and wish you and your families all the very best for the future. Yours sincerely Jo Curd Lead Inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: St Michael and All Angels CofE Infant School, 24 June 2008

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